


An unlikely pair

by Captain_Mercurian



Series: So what do I do with this? [8]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: (right after Newt of course), Credence aka the third wheel, Credence is a badass, Going undercover, Jacob is the kindest creature of all, Love at First Sight, M/M, Mission: Save the kind wizard without being turned into ferrets, What mess has Newt gotten himself into?, and looking for the magic police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:16:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10135979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Captain_Mercurian/pseuds/Captain_Mercurian
Summary: “Tell me what happened,” the man said softly, and smiled when Credence turned to look at him. “Maybe I can help you.”“But you're a muggle,” he frowned, confused at the mere idea of a stranger wanting to help him after having almost died from cardiac arrest because he found a person standing inside a suitcase – Really, if anything, he should be afraid but not compassionate.The man laughed.“Let's start right there. What's a muggle?”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I have been dead to this fandom for a while and I'm so, so sorry! I have been so busy lately and the inspiration dwindled down a lot right with the the number of Crewt-Shippers and available fics here on AO3.  
> So, here is part 8 (which was sooo overdue!) and I'm almost finished with the new chapter for "The reddest flag ever raised" - I hope there are still some people left that are actually interested in my stories. Or Crewt in general.
> 
> Special apologies to milky_haven and Sashimini - I hope you haven't given up on me yet!

Credence was out of his depth.

There was no other way to phrase it as he sat next to an unconscious man and tried to fan some cool air to his sweaty face in hopes that he might wake up. For a moment, he had thought the man had died from a heart attack but, fortunately, his chest was still rising and falling. On the one hand, Credence needed to go – _urgently_ – but on the other, he couldn't leave the poor man here like that. He couldn't even imagine the shock of opening a suitcase and finding a head poking out of it, completely unprepared, especially as a... muggle? Yes, as a muggle.

“Come on, Mister...” he muttered as he waggled the news paper in his hand a tad too aggressively.

Then, the man finally moved. His eyelids fluttered and he groaned as he slowly sat up, Credence guiding him a bit with his hand on the man's shoulder. “I've had the weirdest dream, man,” he mumbled and rubbed his head, opening his eyes and meeting Credence's gaze. There was an awkward moment of eye contact and silence as the man's face paled even further and a very, _very_ uncomfortable grin stretched across his face.

“HA!”

Credence blinked and the man seemed like he was about to faint again but he would have none of that. To be quite honest, he hadn't slapped anyone in his entire life (except himself) but if there was a time and place for a slap, it was now and here. It did the trick as the man jolted awake once again and immediately tried to shuffle away from Credence.

“Y-you came o-out of,” he stuttered, his voice pitched high and hysterical as he pointed at him frantically, “Out of... It can't be... But I- I saw...!”

“Listen, Mister,” he said curtly and he was almost shocked at the confidence and the sharpness of his own voice. “I'm sorry for frightening you but I don't have time for this.”

No, he didn't. He really didn't. It's been over three hours since Mr. Scamander disappeared and Credence has been doing nothing but panicking and wasting time ever since. The wizard could be anywhere right now and he had not a single lead – He could be dead for all he knew. And it was his fault. Why hadn't he eavesdropped when those people came to knock at Mr. Scamander's door? For once, his noisiness would have been useful. Why had he waited so long when his gut had told him, that very first second when he took a peak at the hotel room and found it empty, that something was terribly wrong? Credence was a coward. He had failed the kind wizard.

“Hey, buddy...” a gentle voice said and Credence snapped out of his horrible thoughts when he felt a warm hand touching his arm. “You alright?”  
Once again, he hadn't noticed that he had started to cry – His body was trembling, his vision was blurry and the scalding tears running down his cheeks felt like needles piercing his skin. The man started to rub Credence's upper arms with his big hands and clumsily mumbled words that meant to be soothing but did nothing except make him cry even harder.

“Everything's gonna be alright,” he said and as Credence blinked even more tears out of his eyes, he could make out the blurry outlines of a smiling face.

A sob left his lips, so very loud even to his own ears, and he forced himself to speak: “N-nothing is gonna be alright – H-he's gone, t-they took him and I don't know where he is! What do I do if he's dead?! I-I don't know anything about magic b-but I can't just do nothing, I need to... I need to...”

He realized then that the man had no idea what he was talking about but he didn't seem to care as he helped Credence get back on his feet and maneuvered him to the bed, letting him sit down for a bit. Too busy with rubbing his eyes with his sleeves, he didn't notice the man opening a suitcase himself until there was a pastry held in front of his face.

“It's a cream puff,” the man said with a smile and Credence blinked both confused and a little exasperated. “I'd give you something chocolate-y but I am afraid, I ate them all when I was kicked out of my apartment.”

Very slowly, Credence reached for the pastry, unsure as of what to think or do. “Thanks,” he mumbled and took a small bite, snuffling as he chewed. The sugar coated his tongue and he moaned at the taste, his worries seemingly far away for a moment. “This... this is wonderful.”  
The man beamed at him. “It's a recipe from my grandma,” he told him, very proudly so, and patted Credence's shoulder. “Always helps me calm down.”

He nodded at that and relished in the wonderful taste of something his mother would have never allowed him to eat... Then he felt guilty. What was he doing? Eating pastry while Mr. Scamander was in danger? He was a horrible, ungrateful person.

“I need to go,” he proclaimed, standing up and reaching for the magical suitcase. “I need to find Mr. Scamander!”

With determined steps he made his way to the door – and halted.

“But I don't know where to look.”

At that, he deflated like a balloon, his body leaning forward until his forehead rested against the wooden door. He could hear the man standing up, the mattress squeaking at the movement, and then there was one of those big, warms hands again, touching his shoulder.

“Tell me what happened,” the man said softly, and smiled when Credence turned to look at him. “Maybe I can help you.”

“But you're a muggle,” he frowned, confused at the mere idea of a stranger wanting to help him after having almost died from cardiac arrest because he found a person standing inside a suitcase – Really, if anything, he should be afraid but not _compassionate_.

The man laughed.

“Let's start right there. What's a muggle?”

 

 

New York was bustling with life when the strange pair of one Credence Barebone and one Jacob Kowalski stepped unto it's streets with suitcases in hand and no idea where to go. So, maybe it wasn't ideal since Credence was a wizard but had no connections to the wizarding world, and was therefore just as useless as a muggle, and Jacob was, well, exactly that. A muggle.

“So, is this magical world some kind of underground civilization?” Jacob asked as they reluctantly started walking, their direction totally random.

“I don't know,” was all he could answer, clutching the handle of Mr. Scamander's suitcase like a lifeline. “He never got to that part.”

Jacob hummed, scratching his neck, and they continued walking, lost in their thoughts until they reached the National Country Bank and Jacob suddenly touched his arm, halting him effectively.

“Wait,” he said and turned to look at Credence with wide eyes. “How did you say the guy looked like?”  
Credence blinked, confused at the question.

“He is, er... He's tall,” he stammered, picturing Mr. Scamander in his mind, colorful and bright, that kind smile on his lips, blue eyes meeting his own. “He's lean and his hair is kinda reddish and wild and he's got freckles and blue eyes and very long lashes-” Jacob stared at him and Credence felt himself blushing when he noticed that he got carried away. “He wears a suit, yellowish-brown vest, thin bow tie, white shirt and a blue-”

“Coat,” Jacob interjected, brown eyes gone wide. ”A blue coat and that's his suitcase, yes. I've seen him a while ago. I was at the bank to get a credit for my bakery and he was acting really weird, as if he was looking for something, and bumped into me once. He lost some kind of egg, I managed to give it back to him and then he simply vanished.”

Credence remembered very well, that day at the rally, when he showed him the leaflets and he fled to the bank.

“He was looking for the Niffler.” The man threw him a confused look. “Never mind.”

As interesting as that piece of information was, it didn't help find Mr. Scamander in the least. They needed some kind of clue, a clue they didn't have, before it was too late and there would be nothing to be found but a corpse – Credence's heart stopped at the mere thought, skin gone cold and a shiver of dread running down his spine. At least, he wasn't alone in this. There was something infinitely comforting in knowing that, even though Jacob wasn't a great help being a muggle and all, that he _wasn't alone in this_. He didn't know how long he could withstand the darkness otherwise.

“Not that I am an expert but I guess if there is a wizarding world in New York, there has to be some kind of magic police,” Jacob suggested and Credence nodded in agreement. That made sense. “Maybe, we can go to the police and see if there is someone running around, looking a little weird, and try to ask him subtly if he or she knows where the magic police is. I mean, if they're anything like, er, _muggle_ police, they should be interested in freeing one of their kind from a group of kidnappers.”

They shared a look, both looking very much doubtful, but silently agreed that it was the best shot they've got.

They never got that far, though.  
“...think those New Salemers could be an actual threat to us?” a man whispered to another, and Credence immediately grabbed Jacob's arm and pulled him towards the pair, trying to listen into their conversation.

“No way, the no-majs barely listen to a word this fanatic woman has to say,” the other man retorted and chuckled a bit. “She would have to capture a wizard and make him do magic in front of an audience for anyone to listen. I'd love to see her try – If it wasn't against MACUSA laws, I'd use some nice old-fashioned transformation charm on her. She'd look infinitely better as a ferret.”

The men – wizards – laughed and Credence shared a wide-eyed look with Jacob, both of them barely containing a triumphant grin when they realized their luck. They could continue following the men but if they weren't headed to the wizard police that would merely be a waste of time. He had to talk to them.  
Credence usually never talked to strangers – at least not by his own accord. No, he was far too afraid of people to do that but this wasn't about him. This was about Mr. Scamander and he had to be brave for him.

“E-excuse me, Sirs,” he squeaked and the men halted so abruptly, Credence almost ran into them. They turned around with wide eyes and he could see one of them reaching into his coat.  
He swallowed.  
“Er, my name is Humbert,” he started with a fake accent, poorly mimicking Mr. Scamander's speech pattern and pronunciation as he forced himself to a smile. “Humbert Niff...Nifflington. I came all the way from Norway and I can't seem to find the police station for... our kind. If you know what I mean.”  
The men seemed to relax a bit, the suspicion in their eyes not gone but lessened considerably.

“Ah, I see,” one of them finally said and took off his hat. “You know the Woolworth Building?” Credence nodded vehemently at that. “On the far left is a door and a guard with an owl badge on his sleeve standing in front of it. Show him your wand and he will let you in. We share the space with the no-majs – Not that they're aware.”

At that, the men laughed again and he and Jacob laughed with them until they both simultaneously noticed how fake and forced they sounded and the laughter ceased.  
“Thank you for your help,” Jacob quickly said and they hurried towards the Woolworth Building without looking back. “We're some lucky guys! What do we do about the wand, though? Do you have one?”

The look he gave Jacob seemed to speak for itself and he clutched the suitcase to his chest, his heart pounding as he tried not to panic again. They were going to do it. They were going to the magic police. He oughtn't be afraid considering that he was a wizard, right? But then again... he wasn't a /real/ wizard. He didn't have a wand, nor could he transform people to ferrets. Credence was as muggle-ish as they come apart from... oh well...

“Mr. Scamander has one,” he murmured and stopped abruptly when they reached an alleyway. “I don't think he took it with him.”  
Jacob almost walked past him and did a funny twirl on the ball of his foot when he noticed just in time, stumbling after him when Credence hurried into the alleyway. He put the suitcase down and opened it, climbing in as quickly as he could.

“I guess, I'll just wait here,” he could hear Jacob say before he ran through the magical forest towards the kitchen. Relief flooded his body as he saw the wizard's wand lying on the small table and he quickly went and grabbed it. With this, the man at the magic police will let him in. But what about Jacob?  
“Did you find it?” the man immediately asked when Credence climbed out again, closing the suitcase and picking it up. His face was still red and felt a little sweaty from the sprint he just did when he smiled at Jacob shyly, showing him the wand with an air of triumph.  
He quickly hid it in his sleeve and nodded to the man, so they could finally get help at the magic police.

All the way to the Woolworth Building, he was pondering over what to do if the guard wanted to see Jacob's wand, too. Should he have grabbed some random branch back in the magical forest? He would notice, though, wouldn't he? Mr. Scamander's wand looked a little like a branch... (and he could feel little ridges spreading all over it... he was pretty sure those were teeth marks.)

The closer they got to the Woolworth Building, the more people walked past them – Men in suits, women in nice dresses and some children running in groups across the front court. Immediately, Credence's shoulders slumped and he walked just a tad closer to Jacob as they made their way to the door on the far left where, just as the man had said, a guard was standing with a badge on his sleeve.

Now, he felt infinitely grateful for Jacob's presence.  
The guard looked up at them when they approached and Credence felt sweat running down his back as he, with shaking hands, pulled the wand out just the slightest bit for the man to see. He nodded and opened the door, letting him in – but halted Jacob just a second after. His heart missed a bit.  
“Mine was stolen,” he quickly lied, looking at the guard with big, innocent eyes. “Hence why we're here.”

Credence could feel his knees starting to buckle, his grip on the suitcase tightening as he felt his palms getting sweatier and sweatier until the man huffed and finally let Jacob in. He also looked a little pale but smiled reassuringly when he reached him. It was just then that he actually realized that this man was actually taking a huge risk to help him – _a complete stranger_. They could be hexed into frogs in the next few minutes and the man had nothing to gain from this entire thing... and yet, here he was.  
It took all his willpower not to succumb to the burning sensation of his eyes again.

Instead, they nodded at each other and made their way into the great hall, climbing the stairs – and getting slower and slower as they did so, overwhelmed by the golden beauty of the room.

Witches and Wizards were hurrying through the hall, disappearing in little elevators in which very small people with large noses stood waiting, whereas others were queuing in front of desks which he presumed were where he had to report the kidnapping of one Mr. Scamander.  
“This is wonderful,” Jacob breathed and Credence had to agree vehemently to that.

They were approaching a random queue when a woman dressed in pink almost ran into them, preoccupied with the papers she was carrying and looking up a little too late. Jacob grabbed and steadied her by the shoulders and Credence immediately jumped to catch most of her papers as the woman gasped in surprise.  
“Careful,” the man told her and smiled as he let go of her and she stared at him with wide eyes and parted lips before breaking into a beam.  
When Credence garnered all of her papers and held them out to her, he found them still staring and smiling at each other.

“Thanks,” she whispered.

It wasn't the first time that he found himself being the awkward bystander but he felt just a little bit impatient as he had to let an old lady get into line before him. Mr. Scamander could be anywhere right now – He could be tortured or locked up or... or bleeding out somewhere, all alone. And _they_ could be caught. What did wizards do to muggles that knew about them – that stood in the midst of their magic police station? He shouldn't have taken Jacob with him. Maybe, he should put the lady's papers on the floor and get himself in line, so he could finally get help for Mr. Scamander...

At that, the blonde woman's head whipped around, staring at Credence out of huge eyes.

He flinched and felt all the color drain from his cheeks at the way she looked at him; almost _horrified_. There was no reason for her to look at him like that except... but it couldn't be, could it? Did that woman _read_ his mind?

“You must leave,” she whispered and took the papers out of his hands. “They will arrest you if you ask for your friend and he will be in even greater trouble.”  
Credence's heart stopped beating for several painful seconds when he understood.

“He... he was arrested?” he breathed, feeling his insides go numb. Arrested. He wasn't kidnapped – It was the magic police that had just taken him out of nowhere. But why? What did he do? He seemed so peaceful living in his suitcase with those weird creatures, he couldn't possibly have done anything wrong.

“Your friend was seen causing trouble in the National Country Bank. Apparently, he tried to rob a no-maj bank with the help of a magical creature,” she murmured and Credence immediately shook his head.

“No, no, they got it all wrong – The Niffler likes shiny things, if anything Mr. Scamander was trying to prevent him from robbing the bank,” he explained with a hint of panic and desperation, his heart clenching at the mere thought of the nice wizard being arrested because of a stupid misunderstanding. Surely, they wouldn't throw him into jail for that? “I have to talk to a police man and expl-”

“No, no, no!” she whispered and pulled him back by the hand before he could run off. “If they find out that he pulled two no-majs into this mess, he will get into so much more trouble...”

“But-”

“He might get away with a fine,” she said and covered his hand with hers, looking at him sympathetically. “But if you two turn up, there will be...”  
At that, her voice died away and her eyes widened before her head whipped around and Credence reluctantly followed her gaze.

Just a few feet away stood a tall man clad in black.

 

Mr. Graves.

 


End file.
